Singing with Dragons
by Draco
Summary: Just a few months after the war of the Dragons and the Wizards... is it too much to ask for a peaceful life? The wizards are back...


Singing with Dragons

By Draco

_ _

# Chapter One

_In Which the Wizards Cause Trouble… Again._

_ _

A small cat was prowling around the Enchanted Forest in the dead of night. It was a dark gray cat, with matted fur that might have once been sleek and beautiful, but now was tangled with sticks and tangles and covered with mud and other filth. It was acting unusually un-cat like, prowling around like it was searching for something and jumping at the slightest noise. It had a small sack tied around it's neck, and it's eyes, which were bright red, glowed with it's own strange light.

Quiz, a large black and white cat, eyed the newcomer suspiciously. "Who does he think he is?"

"Be quiet, Quiz, he'll hear you!" Cass hissed, pausing from licking her gray fur. "I don't think that's a cat."

"Of course it's not a cat. I say we go after it and make it tell us what it's doing. Of all stup-" Quiz fell silent as the red eyed filthy cat turned it's head in their direction, as if listening. After a moment, the cat seemed satisfied, and it moved on.

"There's something not right here… he smells of magic. Not particularly _good_ magic, either. Quiz, please go get Morwen. She'll know what to do. I'll follow him." Cass muttered.

Quiz looked at Cass indignantly, then left for the house in a lazy saunter.

The red-eyed cat stopped again, and started smelling the air. Cass cocked her head. It seemed like a very young cat… if it really was a cat, which Cass doubted. The creature reeked of enchantments, but it didn't seem to be another enchanted Prince or traveler, either. Usually Cass could spot those instantly.

The cat stopped, as though reading her thoughts, and swung around, staring right at Cass. "Who are you?"

Cass eyed the other cat with righteous contempt. "Does it matter?" she asked. "I could be asking the same of you."

The red-eyed cat hesitated then dipped his head towards Cass, as though bowing. Cass's ears perked up at once. This _definitely_ was not a cat.

"My name is… well, call me Fleture. My name isn't important." Fleture's mouth curled up in what a human would have called a smile, trying to look wise and mysterious.

Cass shook her head slightly. "Exactly _what_ are you, might I ask?"

Fleture looked hurt. "I'm a cat."

"You _look_ like a cat, you smell of magic, and you're acting like an over-dramatic wizard. Not to mention that cats very rarely have red eyes, and any self respecting cat that _I_ know of would have spent the last twenty four hours trying to get clean." Cass hesitated, wondering if that was too rude to say to a stranger, then shook herself and repeated her question. "What are you?"

Fleture tried to shrug, which made him look very silly. "If you can't tell, then you shouldn't know."

Cass sighed. Again with the overdramatic mysterious behavior. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn the cat was a wizard in disguise. He acted like one.

Fleture eyed her thoughtfully. "Do you know these woods well?"

"Why do you want to know?" Cass blinked, wondering if Quiz was being slow on purpose. Where _was_ Morwen when you needed her?

"I'm trying to find something." Fleture said. "I know where it is, but I don't know where to get there, since the forest keeps moving."

Cass eyed the other cat, then to show her complete disinterest, started washing her fur. After about thirty seconds, she lifted her head and smelled the air. _Morwen!_

The cat smelled it as well. "Who's that?"

Morwen landed her broomstick and looked around. "It's well enough for you and Quiz to be prowling around at this time of night, Cassandra, but some of us need our sleep. Now, where is this _interesting_ cat?"

Fleture looked at the witch carefully, then tried to sneak away, unfortunately tripping over a rock as he did so.

Cass meowed her response to Morwen, who pushed her ginger hair out of her face and looked at the cat closely. "I see. Yes, of course, it was quite right to get me. And you are…?"

"Fleture." The cat mumbled.

Cass blinked. Morwen, from the look on her face, could understand the red-eyed cat just as well as she could. _That isn't supposed to happen…_

"I see." Morwen nodded. "If you'll come with me, Fleture? I'd like to have some idea of what's going on."

Cass gave the witch a disapproving look, but Morwen didn't say anything more. She simply picked the filthy cat-wannabe up, turned, and walked back to the house, her broomstick in her hand, with Cass trailing behind.

***

Fleture reached the house about half an hour later. Morwen had been very definite about not flying back to the house, and had walked the entire way, much to Cass's displeasure. Some of Morwen's cats gave him disgusted looks the moment Morwen brought him in the door, and then continued to make indignant remarks to each other at the very idea of Morwen bringing a magic-reeking, filthy stray into the clean house. Of course, Morwen took care of the 'filthy' part right away.

"Water." Fleture stared at the sink suspiciously. "Soapy water. I suppose there's lemon juice in there too."

"Nothing of the sort." Morwen said. "Besides, I highly doubt you'd melt if exposed to lemon juice and soapy water. That's for melting wizards, and, at least for the moment, you are not a wizard."

Fleture glared at her, his red eyes nearly glowing. The other nine cats all jumped up on the counter, expecting this to be quite entertaining.

"Well… get in." Morwen said at last.

The cat did something quite strange. He sneered. "It's… wet!"

All Morwen's cats started chuckling, except for Cass, who didn't look at all surprised by the newcomer's behavior.

Morwen sighed, then pushed the cat in the sink. Morwen's cats all gave each other smug looks.

Half an hour later, Fleture was a small, wet cat with gray fur plastered to its sides, and looked worse then a drowned rat. His eyes were still bright red, which looked very odd, but looked even odder when he was trying to stare down the other cats in his soggy state.

"Now." Morwen got out a piece of fish (cooked, much to her other cats' displeasure) and put it on a plate for the stranger, who ate hungrily. "I want to know how you got in such an… unpleasant situation. Or are you going to turn back, now?"

"Yes. That's it." Fleture rolled his eyes, which looked extremely odd on a cat. "I'll turn back, and every magical creature in the forest will be after my blood. No thanks."

"I'm still waiting for an explanation." Morwen said pointedly.

"I… I wanted to find something in the forest. And if I looked like myself, I'll have every elf but the silverstaff elves will be trying to murder me at every turn. Wizards aren't exactly welcomed here. The problem is, I don't have my staff yet, so I had to get another wizard to transform me. This wizard… his name was Halgar… had a very wicked sense of humor, and transported me in the middle of the stinking swamp. So I've just been wandering around for days searching for… someone."

"First you say something. Now you say someone. Exactly what or whom are you looking for?" Morwen asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm… I'm looking for my father." Fleture confessed. Morwen's eyebrows shot up. "He disappeared during the war between the dragons and the wizards."

"Exactly _who_ was he? What was his name?" Morwen asked.

"You probably wouldn't have heard of him." Fleture said quickly. "He wasn't very good, but I've been sent on this quest…" the red eyed cat trailed off seeing Morwen's stern look.

"His name was Antorell."

Morwen stood up at once. "What is your real name?"

The cat hesitated. "I'm not supposed to tell."

Morwen turned and stared at him. This wasn't exactly the response she had expected from a wizard. "How old _are_ you?"

"Um… well… I'm almost seventeen." Fleture now looked extremely embarrassed. "I think the society was trying to get rid of me… you know, I'm not _wizard-like _enough. They seemed to think I was bad luck, so they sent me here. I haven't even learned enough to make a staff. Do you know what happened to my father?"

Morwen frowned. "I don't. Not specifically, in any case. But I know someone who does."

Fleture leapt to his feet (again, which looked rather odd on a cat). "Really?"

"Wizards." Quiz sniffed, then yawned. "I'm going back to bed."

"An excellent idea." Morwen said. "Fleture, you can sleep in one of the guest rooms."

"A _wizard_?!" An orange tabby by the door looked outraged. "Sleep in the _guest room_?! In _cat form_?!"

"Oh, honestly." A tortoise shell by the door yowled, sounding rather amused. "You don't trust him? What's he going to do, scratch us in our sleep?"

"Well… yes, the cat form _is_ a bit much. Fleture, no one is going to be fooled by that." Morwen sighed.

"It's not like _I_ can change myself back." Fleture growled, looking peeved.

"Of course. But it's very late, so we'll turn you back in the morning. Casting transformation spells when sleep deprived is not a good idea." Morwen yawned and opened the door in the back of the house, revealing a comfortable looking guest room. "Good night, Fleture."

Fleture glared at Morwen, then walked stiffly into the room, looking like a cat version of a rebellious teenager. Once Morwen closed the door, all but one of the cats yawned and staked out the comfortable places to sleep in the house.

The one that was left eyed Morwen suspiciously. It was the tortoise shell female that had spoken earlier. "What's going on? You invited a _wizard_ into the house. Is that such a good idea? What if he was lying about not being able to turn himself back?"

"I doubt he can do much without a staff." Morwen said softly, turning the lamps out. "Besides, there's something interesting about him, and I intend to figure out what that is."

"What about planning that… that _wedding_?" The tortoise shell grimaced at the last word. "Haven't you got enough to do without dealing with the supposed son-of-Antorell?"

"I'm sure I'll be able to manage. Good night, Grace."

Grace yawned and curled up on the sofa, where Cass was lying as well. "Just as long as you know what you're doing."

***

## "Mirror, mirror, on the wall

### I would like to make a call"

The mirror in Morwen's study went milky white at once. "What party are you calling, please?"

"Telemain," Morwen said.

"One moment, please," the mirror said politely. A few seconds later Telemain's face appeared in the mirror, blinking and rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Honestly, I'd expect you to be up by eight, Telemain." Morwen raised her eyebrows.

"Oh… hello, Morwen." Telemain yawned. "I was up late testing the initial quotient of magic in the primary phases of…"

"Yes, yes." Morwen said quickly. "Telemain, I think you should come over here. I had a rather interesting… visitor, and I think you would like to examine him."

"Interesting?" Telemain raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"A young wizard, under another wizard's enchantment. He's been turned into a cat. Now, you could come take a look at this spell…" Morwen fought back the urge to smile. "Or I could just take the spell off him without your examination first…"

Telemain's skeptical look vanished. "Are you sure of this, Morwen?"

Morwen nodded. "My cats brought him in, and I've spoken with him."

Telemain blinked, looking like his wildest dreams have all come true at once. "Of course… of course… I'll be there right away."

And with that, the mirror went blank.

Morwen sighed, knowing Telemain would sprint to her house if he had to, just to get the chance of analyzing a wizard under a wizard spell (something not even _Morwen_ had seen before), and left the study, turned around, and knocked on the door she had just come through.

"What?" Fleture sounded grumpy. "I was sleeping!"

Morwen opened the door. The gray cat's fur was no longer wet (and proved to be short and a silvery color of gray), but his eyes were just as red as ever.

"I'm bringing a friend over. Hopefully, you'll be back in your original state by noon."

"Did I ever say that I _wanted_ to be turned back to my original state?" Fleture asked.

"You are a cat that trips over every obstacle in its path. If you want to stay alive, you'll go back to your original form." Morwen said briskly. "Now come have some breakfast."

"I'm not eating cat food." Fleture muttered, following Morwen. "I'll starve, thanks."

"Who said anything about cat food?" Morwen asked, bringing out a tray of gingerbread and cider, then started cutting up an apple.

Fleture, apparently, had no response to that, and crouched down on the table.

"Telemain's here!" The orange tabby raced inside the door.

"Good." Morwen said, setting Fleture's cider on the table. Fleture sniffed at it suspiciously, as if making sure it wasn't poisoned, then started licking it.

Quiz, to the side, looked annoyed and stopped washing his foot. "_Definitely _not a cat. You eat _fruit_?"

"I like cider." Fleture glared.

"And why is _he_ allowed on the table?" Quiz asked loudly. 

A silver and white cat on the couch stopped licking himself. "Can't you be quiet, Quiz? He's a guest." The cat's silver-green eyes looked up at Fleture. "I'm Jasper. Jasper Darlington Higgins the ninth."

Fleture nodded and nibbled a bit of the gingerbread. "What exactly _is_ Morwen? She smells like a witch."

"Morwen _is_ a witch." Quiz said loftily.

"But… I thought witches were supposed to have warts and cackle a lot…!" Fleture now looked thoroughly confused.

Cass raised her head. "Morwen's coming back in the house."

The door reopened and Morwen stepped into the building, followed closely by a rather tall man, holding a _staff._ Fleture smiled inwardly.

Bingo.

The other cats ignored the newcomer, except for Quiz, who still didn't like the idea that he was going to marry Morwen in a few weeks. Quiz yowled indignantly at the magician.

Telemain nodded politely towards Quiz and greeted him politely, which set Fleture in a fit of giggles (which, again, looked _extremely_ odd on a cat). "Now… is _this_ the cat you wanted me to look at, Morwen?" he asked.

Morwen, who was setting out more cider, glanced at Fleture and nodded.

"Oh, shove off already." Fleture glared at the man.

Telemain blinked, then sat down on the couch and started fiddling with a series of instruments.

"Magicians. I can't stand magicians. What's he doing with a staff anyways?" Fleture asked loudly.

"I study wizards." Telemain said, glancing up at the cat, then going back to his work.

"Oh, you're going to study me, are you? No thanks. I'm off." Fleture stood up, tripped of the plate of gingerbread, and ended up sprawled on the floor in a most un-catlike manner. "Ow!"

"Fleture, would you _please_ sit down?" Morwen sighed. "I'm not putting your breakfast on the floor."

Quiz gave Fleture a scorning, cocky smile, then went back to licking himself. Fleture picked himself off the floor, and carefully climbed back on the table and ate his gingerbread quietly.

"-more trouble then he's worth…" one of the other cats, a tiger stripped one, growled at Morwen, who pretended not to notice.

"Who's that?" Fleture asked Jasper, who seemed the only decent cat in the lot. "The stripped one?"

"Her?" Jasper yawned and started licking himself. "That's Madam Mischief. Don't mind her, she's always making comments like that."

Madam Mischief gave Jasper a patronizing look, and to show her complete disconcern, started licking her fur.

***

"I don't think that's safe…" Prince Daystar winced.

"We're in the Enchanted Forest! Nothing's safe. Help me out!" Shiara turned and glared at Daystar, then went back to heaving the bag she was carrying behind her back. Nightwitch yowled with impatience.

"We really should have a lantern, at least! Caves aren't safe… and there are rock snakes, and…" Daystar trailed off, noticing Shiara had crossed her arms. "This is the cave of _fire_ and night. Notice the _fire_ part of the word. I am a _fire_ witch, someone who deals with _fire_. Are you coming or not? I want to get back to Kazul before dark, and if you keep moaning we'll end up staying in the forest before dark and end up getting eaten by one of those Nightshades you keep warning me about." Shaira glared, then clapped her hands together. A burst of flame blazed from her hands, and the next thing Daystar knew the entire entrance to the cave was lit by an orange, glowing fire.

"I'm coming." Daystar shouldered the pack on his back. "But couldn't we have transported to the edge of the woods? It's not hard…"

"Come _on_, Daystar. It's easier this way."

Daystar sighed, and followed Shiara into the cave. "Something's wrong, Shiara. Really, I think we should turn back. Kazul would have come herself if something was important…"

Shaira's reply was incoherent, at least from the outside. A tall man with a long brown beard dressed in all green robes waited outside the cave, smiling slightly and twirling his staff in his hands. He waited a few seconds more, then swung the staff around and pointed it at a spot in the forest fifty some feet away, hopefully above where the cave was supposed to be. The ground started writhing, then collapsed. Echoed screams were heard from the tunnel, followed by the sound of pounding feet. The wizard held his staff out and made a sweeping gesture with the stick towards the cave entrance, forming a wall of solid ice.

"Shiara, we're trapped!"

"Not for long, if I have anything to say about it." A small, red light appeared on the other side of the wall.

The green wizard stiffened, then, realizing his mistake, disappeared with a huge cloud of purple smoke, which was still floating on the ground by the time Shiara managed to melt the ice.

***

_By the dancing of the Sun's flame,_

_By the light of the morning star,_

_By the pounding of the spring rain,_

_Be what you are!_

_ _

Morwen moved her hands towards the red-eyed cat, her hands bound with a strange, glowing black vine. All of her nine cats had gathered around her, and Telemain was watching with the utmost interest, trying to (as he put it) 'hypotenuse the effects of conventional filaments of magic in the anon phases of an emblematic spell of transformation' on a wizard.

Fleture stiffened, then crouched down. There was a flare of bright red light, a loud _crack_ and then everything was still.

"Fascinating." Telemain's face glowed with delight. The boy on the floor, dressed in dark green and black silk robes stood up at once. He didn't look very old; fourteen at most, and his eyes were a deep blue, not red. He smoothed his dirty blond hair back nervously, then realized what he was doing and tried to look as mysterious and evil as possible. Morwen noted that he had a leather pouch strung on a cord around his neck, and he seemed very lanky and awkward.

"Fleture." Morwen stood up. "Much better. You are feeling alright?"

The boy nodded, looking sheepish, then looked down at the floor and muttered something polite. Telemain started taking out yet another instrument and started working with it, leaving his staff leaned against the doorframe. Fleture eyed it thoughtfully, then sat down at the couch. "Hey, Jasper."

Jasper meowed something in response. Fleture's eyes widened. "Why can't I understand him anymore?"

"Because you're not a cat. Not anymore, at least." Morwen glanced up. "Would you like some lunch?"

"Not hungry." Fleture muttered.

"You know," Morwen raised one eyebrow. "Jasper has a point. I thought you said you were almost seventeen."

"I am!" Fleture protested, his blue eyes wide and innocent. "I'll be seventeen in thirty months."

Morwen shrugged, then stood up. "I need to make a call. I'll be right back." Morwen walked across the room, opened the door, revealing a small study, and shut it behind her.

Fleture smiled then crossed the room, sitting down next to Telemain. "So… you're interested in wizards?" he asked, smiling politely.

Telemain glanced up. "I find your methods of casting spells intriguing. It's like no other form of magic I've found, and I've been researching it for years."

"Ah." Fleture smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "So… how far have you gotten?" One hand curled around Telemain's forgotten staff.

"I've made significant progress in the-"

The door of the study opened. Fleture tightened his grip on the staff.

"Telemain!" Morwen cried.

Fleture jumped up, swirled around, then with an ear-spliting _bang!_ disappeared, staff in hand.


End file.
